St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-12-05

| ported. In 1873 of these cases, involving
| 1926, 900 acres, proceedings have been
| instituted, and in 165 cases the special
cents report the removal. complete or
in progress, of the illegal fences, throw
ing open to public use and occupancy
1884 900 acres.
| The present status of the question of
| illegal Enclosures is far better than |
anticipated or reasonably hoped at the
time made my last annual report, and
| it is source of some congratulation
that so widespread and so thoroughly
intrenehed an evil has been overcome
without serious injury to, or collision
with, the people of the range cattle
| country. In short, it is apparent that
this wholesale appropriation of the
| public domain is thing of the past,
| and that these vast areas of the public
heritage have been restored to the peo-
pie. ft
Only where corporate connivance and
! prodigal railroad grants came to their
| assistance had the cattlemen still defied
| the law and rendered poweriess the
effortS of this department to cOrrect this
| abuse.
As | write this report complaints
| come from a region little visited by my
| inspector that certain large and wealthy
corporations, composed of foreigners,
are constructing further Enclosures
within the railroad limits. That others
are only waiting to see what action, If
any, the government proposes to take to
prevent this, and are ready to pursue
| the same course if this can be safely
done. Within the limits of the railroad
! grants to-day exist the only large or con-
! tinuOus Enclosures of public lands.
| This cunning device for violating the
| law and furtheTing their own ends at
! the expense of settlement could never
| have been made effectual unless the
| railroad companies had come to the aid
| of these capitalists and cattlemen.
If the present law is to be thus ig-
! nored and action under it paralyZed,
| some further legislation is necessary.
! Two plans have been considered by the
! department. requiring congressional ac-
! ton. to remedy this remarkable and
| cunning evasion of the law. The first
| is to enact bill establishing public
! highway around, four rods wide, every
section of land, the section lines being
| the center of such highways. Make
| this a part of the public system, so that
all future entries made vpOn the public
! lands should be subject to this pro-
| vision. Similar laws are now i'll force
| in several Western states and terri
| tories. passed by local legislation early
| in their development, to provide fire.
| quent and ample means of cOmmunica-
| ton through the country, with little eX-
| penSe to the counties. Such laws have
| hitherto proved very beneficial to the
! people and the state, Obviating the fire.
| quent and veXatiOus determinations OF
| highways prevalent in localities where
such a statute has not been in operation.
| When the land taken for such highways
! has passed from the government into the
| hands of private parties the bill should
| provide for necessary compensation.
This would require comparatively
| small amount owing to the present low
| value of these lands.
By such a measure the system would
be impossible-the public highways act
| ing as barriers to the unbrOken lines of
| fences. An additional advantage, too,
would follow from these highways in
| opening free access to the streams and
| water courses throughout the whole
grazing region. now so completely and
exclusively controlled by a few to the
permanent injury of many DESTROYS of
ranging stock upon the broad uplands
of the public domain.
The objection, often urged against
this plan, that it would be enormously
expensive for the government to- con-
Struct these highways, has no force. 1t
is not proposed to do so. The present
value of these highways lies in break
ing up this system of fencing and fur
niShing access to the alternate sections
of public land and the water courses.
thus stimulating an early settlement of
the country. Their future value to the
people who may develop this vast re-
giOn into prosperous and settled COM
munity is simply beyond any estimate.
The second plan considered is through
the passage of bill to authorize the
secretary of the interior to lease the in
termediate sections of public land to the
owners of the adjacent railroad sections.
Necessary provisions of this bill would
be that such leased lands should be sub
iect to entry under the land laws at any
time, the leSsee'S rent terminating from
the date Of entry; that entrymen should
have a right to lease adjacent public
land proportionate to the area entered:
that gates should be placed to suit the
convenience of the settlers, one every
mile. Such a bill would be a relief
measure for the purchasers of the rail
road lands. and as this condition of af-
fairs has arisen from the granting of
land in this manner by congress, it may,
perhaps. be fairly urged that relief
should come through congress.
The objection to such action is. that
one class of law-breakers would not go
UNFINISHED and relieved from the COM
pliance of the law, but instead would be
granted especial privileges.
The question is one of Importance, not
only in its present bearings, but also
from the future evils which are liable
to arise throughout the vast areas SIM
ilarly granted to railroads from our
western domain.
PUBLIC SURVEYS.
renew the suggestion in my last an
nual report in favor of the enactment of
a law making false and fraudulent re-
turns of public surveys a penal OffenSe,
and providing also penalties for the
willful destruction or removal of sur
veying monuments. Special attention
is called to the recommendation of the
commissioner for the appropriation of
5000, 600 for executing public surveys.
concur in this recommendation.
The appropriations for 1854 were
1926. 900, whilst those for 1887 and 1888
were, respectively, only $4,000! This
is a very serious matter. 1t would be
less disastrous to the interests of the
people to abolish the present mode of
administering the public surveys and
remit the whole subject to the states or
dispose of it in some other way, if the
executive is not afforded the means of
properly administering this branch of
the public service. Our plan of survey
ing the public land is most admirable
one, and its correct administration lies
at the very foundation of our eStab-
lished land system. But if the public
surveys are not conducted with honesty
and eXactness, they are a snare and de-
fusion to all who obtain title under
them.
The commissioner shows that where
surveys have been made, in many in
stances it is impossible to throw open
the surveyed land because of the want
of means to cause the surveys to be YER
flied in the field or to have the necessary
office work done. In addition, he shows